A 16-year-old has been charged for his role in a 2023 bomb threat made against Airport High School.

Cayce Police announced Feb. 5 that the former student at Airport High and his co-conspirator in the Feb. 7, 2023 incident, a juvenile living in Los Angeles,  knew of “other bomb threats made in other Richland and Lexington County schools and thought it would be fun to do one themselves. The juveniles used a popular gaming app to plan out the threat.”

That 2023 incident was part of a rash of school threats, both for Airport HIgh and the Midlands at large, as four threats were reported at the school that month, three coming during a week that saw at least 11 schools in the Midlands receive threats, with a 15-year-old Columbia high school student subsequently charged for a handful of threats in Richland County and two at River Bluff High and the Lexington Technology Center.

“On February 7, 2023, the Cayce Police Department was alerted to a bomb threat received at Airport High School,” the department states in its release. “As a safety precaution, the school was evacuated immediately and searched for any sort of explosive device. Thankfully, none were found. CPD responded to three additional bomb threats at Airport High School in February [2023].

“The safety of our students and teachers is a top priority of our officers and each threat was thoroughly investigated. CPD does not tolerate disruptive threats in our schools as they cause our students to be removed from their learning environment, parents to be concerned about their children, and school staff and public safety officers are diverted from other responsibilities.”

The 16-year-old is charged with student threats along with possession, threatened or attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction.

“We never take charging a juvenile lightly, but we do not hesitate in taking swift action to ensure the safety of our students, staff, and teachers,” Cayce Police Chief Chris Cowan is quoted. “We hope this level of vigilance will deter future acts.”

The department emphasized its utilization of “relationships and resources of local, state and federal agencies” in its investigation, including the Los Angeles Police Department, the 11th Circuit Solicitor’s Office, the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department, the U.S. Secret Service, the state Law Enforcement Division, and the Allendale Police Department.

"We appreciate our law enforcement partners and the work they do every day to help keep our students, employees, and schools safe,” Lexington County School District 2 officials told the Chronicle.